


Playing with Fire

by thorinoakenbutt



Series: Freedom and Redemption [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: And the Inquisitor catches the heat for all of it, Dorian and Lavellan playing chicken until they wind up just making out in public, Herald's Rest, In which Cole is an unwitting accomlice to theft, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Sera's attempt at vandalism is thwarted, They're a mess, which to be fair is his fault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:08:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25179724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thorinoakenbutt/pseuds/thorinoakenbutt
Summary: Revas and Sera were on their way to the Herald’s Rest when Cole materialized seemingly out of thin air. Sera’s chatter came to an abrupt squeak of a halt as both jumped in surprise. Cole shot her a wary look as she huffed and glared down at her boots to avoid looking at the spirit. “I brought the book you asked for,” he mumbled, pushing a bundle into the Inquisitor’s hands.“Wonderful!” the Dalish mage exclaimed, smiling brightly. He tucked the bundled sack under his arm and clasped his free hand onto the young man’s shoulder. “Thank you, Cole. You’ve been a great help.”“Really?” Cole asked with a soft smile, fidgeting under the praise.
Relationships: Inquisitor/Dorian Pavus, Lavellan/Dorian Pavus, Male Inquisitor/Dorian Pavus, Male Lavellan/Dorian Pavus
Series: Freedom and Redemption [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1813036
Kudos: 23





	Playing with Fire

Revas and Sera were on their way to the Herald’s Rest when Cole materialized seemingly out of thin air. Sera’s chatter came to an abrupt squeak of a halt as both jumped in surprise. Cole shot her a wary look as she huffed and glared down at her boots to avoid looking at the spirit. “I brought the book you asked for,” he mumbled, pushing a bundle into the Inquisitor’s hands.

“Wonderful!” the Dalish mage exclaimed, smiling brightly. He tucked the bundled sack under his arm and clasped his free hand onto the young man’s shoulder. “Thank you, Cole. You’ve been a great help.”

“Really?” Cole asked with a soft smile, fidgeting under the praise. “Won’t Dorian be worried if he finds out?”

Revas patted his shoulder comfortingly. “He might, but this is for a surprise, Cole. I’m sure Dorian will be delighted. But remember, this is a secret,” he said, drawing Cole in closer with a reassuring smile. “I’ll let you know when I need you to return it to Dorian’s room, alright?”

“Of course,” Cole replied, looking relieved and tentatively returning the elf’s smile with one of his own. He vanished just as quickly and quietly as he had appeared, leaving the elves alone once again.

“So,” Sera drawled after a moment of silence. “What’s all that ‘bout a surprise? What’d you get _It_ to nick from Lord Fancypants?”

Revas glanced furtively around the grounds, making sure the coast was clear before he pulled out the book from the sack. “It’s Dorian’s grimoire,” he said, grinning roguishly. His smile faltered at Sera’s blank look.

“His whatsit?” she asked, nose scrunching up in confusion. She took the book from him to examine it closer, flipping through the pages. 

“His grimoire. It’s like…a journal, but for magic. It holds spells, research, that kind of thing,” Revas explained impatiently. He crowded close to her, turning the pages until he found a good one and gestured to the spell that was outlined there.

“Oh,” Sera responded, a note of disgust in her voice. She passed the book back to him and shoved him out of her space. “Why’d _It_ give it to _you_?”

Revas heaved a heavy sigh. “Cole is not an _it_ , Sera,” he chided. The mage paused then, shooting her a speculative look. Was telling her a mistake? She was always game for a good bit of mischief, but to say that she didn’t trust magic was an understatement. Time would tell, he supposed. “I don’t want Dorian to know I have it. That shem would become even more insufferable if he knew I wanted to know more about him- _his magic_ , I mean.”

Sera’s eyes widened in delight. “You _stole it_!” she shouted, laughing wildly. “What are you gonna-” She was cut off by Revas throwing his hand over her mouth.

“Shhhhhh! No. No, no, I didn’t _steal_ it! _Borrowed_. I’m borrowing it!” he stressed. Sera rolled her eyes and licked his hand, causing him to release her in disgust. “Sera, promise me you won’t say anything. I’ll have Cole return it before Dorian even knows it’s missing.”

She pretended to think about the demand, watching Revas wipe his hand on his pant leg in amusement. “Let me draw a picture in it, and I’ll promise,” she finally declared.

“What? No! Then he’ll know someone took it!”

“Then no promises, oh mighty Inquisitor.”

“This shouldn’t even be up for debate,” Revas grumbled, rubbing a hand over his face as he scowled at her.

“Where do ya think Dorian is right now? He’d sure be grateful if someone tipped him off ‘bout a theft.”

“Alright, fine,” Revas relented with a groan. “If you promise, I’ll consider _possibly_ allowing you to draw in it. Deal?” He stuck out his hand for her to shake. Her palm met his in a resounding smack.

“Deal.”

________________________________________

A short while later, Dorian swept into the tavern looking distressed. “Has anyone seen a book lying about? I seem to have misplaced one, and it’s quite vital that it’s returned to my possession as quickly as possible,” he addressed the room. Sera caught his eye and subtly inclined her head in the direction of a corner booth where Revas was seated, his head bent over a familiar looking tome. Ah, of course. “Inquisitor!”

As Revas glanced up and locked eyes with him, a look of guilt flashed across the elf’s face as the tips of his ears turned a fetching shade of pink. He then had the gall to snap the grimoire shut and attempted to hide it under his arms. “Dorian,” Revas greeted, feigning nonchalance. 

“Might I join you?” the Tevinter mage asked, approaching the table. The elf’s jaw set obstinately, but he gestured to the seat beside him. Dorian made a bit of a show of getting comfortable, letting Revas sweat it out a little longer before he pinned what he hoped was a stern expression on him. Truth be told, he wasn’t certain whether he was irritated at the elf’s brazen theft or amused at his reaction to having been caught. 

The Dalish refused to meet his eye, and leaned ever so slightly away from Dorian as he waited to be reprimanded. Finally, he pushed the grimoire over towards him. “Is this the book you were looking for?” he asked innocently. 

Dorian just managed to hide his laugh behind a cough. If Revas wanted to play that game, so be it. He picked up the grimoire, clasping it to his hip, then leaned in closer. Revas leaned even further away. “Indeed it is. Might I ask where you found it? I was quite sure I’d left it in my room.”

“Ah. It was…around. Somewhere,” the elf said vaguely, shrugging. He met Dorian’s eye with such a fake look of sincerity that the man felt his lips twitch upwards. _Kaffas_ , he wouldn’t break that easily. “If I had known it was yours, I would have returned it straight away, of course.”

“ _Of course_ ,” he repeated. “I’m sure I’m not the only one in Skyhold with a grimoire detailing theories of time magic.”

“ _Oh_ ,” Revas winced, averting his eyes again. Good, Dorian wasn’t able to suppress his smile any longer.

“Oh, indeed. My Lord Inquisitor, I would never _dream_ of accusing you of such a base crime as theft, but is there any possibility that the ‘somewhere’ you found my grimoire was on my bedside table?”

“He got Demon Boy to get it for him,” Sera called from across the room, where she was balancing on the hind legs of her chair. Revas made an obscene gesture towards her, and she huffed indignantly. “Pff, you wish. Ser Lordybloomers was gonna draw rude things in it.”

“Thank you, Sera,” Dorian replied. He failed to stop his grin when she returned the Inquisitor’s gesture with a smug look. Revas, on the other hand, looked positively stricken when Dorian returned his attention to the elven mage. 

“Dorian, I swear on the Dales that isn’t true. I would _never_ deface something as important as this. I only wanted to borrow it for a little while. We use similar magic, and I wanted to compare-”

Dorian raised his hand to cut off Revas’ babbling and managed to summon up a severe look. “Lavellan, I don’t know how the Dalish do things, but when a human borrows an item, it’s customary to ask for permission _beforehand_.”

“Ah. Then let’s chalk this up to a cultural misunderstanding, shall we?” the elf asked hopefully. He began to slowly get up out of his chair. “Now if that’s all, I really should be-”

“Not so fast, Inquisitor,” Dorian interrupted, reaching out to grab ahold of Revas’ coat to pull him back to his seat. Revas sat heavily with a sigh. “Whether or not you realized you were in the wrong, I do believe I should be offered recompense.”

“Recompense,” the elf repeated flatly, eyeing Dorian warily. “Uh…sure. What do you want?”

“You could kiss me.”

“ _What_?” 

Dorian leaned into Revas’ space and was mildly surprised that the elf allowed it. Though perhaps that was the shock. He’d like to think after all their flirting that this would be welcome. Taking a chance, he lifted a hand to tuck a strand of hair behind one of the Inquisitor’s tapered ears, brushing a finger seductively along the delicate tip. The elf swallowed heavily, and Dorian knew he had him.

“A kiss from the charmingly pretty Inquisitor Lavellan should be enough to soothe my hurt feelings about this…incident,” Dorian murmured, glancing at Revas’ lips before dragging his gaze back up to his eyes. If he’d had trouble getting the Dalish to look at him earlier, he now had the smaller mage’s undivided attention. 

“Is that all?” Revas asked hoarsely. His eyes were dark with interest. 

“It does have to be on the lips, of course,” Dorian clarified. He watched in satisfaction as Revas’ eyes dropped to his mouth. He leaned in closer. 

“I can do that,” the Inquisitor breathed. He slid his hands slowly up Dorian’s chest, reaching up to cup the human’s jaw and angled his face down as he brushed their lips together. It was light as a feather, but Dorian felt as though he’d just been ignited.

Dorian’s arms wrapped around the elf unbidden, one hand tangling in Revas’ hair and the other curling around his waist, tugging the elf against his chest. “One more,” he begged roughly. He felt Revas smile against his lips before he was pulled into a deeper kiss. 

Dorian closed his eyes, his breath catching in his throat as Revas caught his lower lip between his teeth. He couldn’t hold back a moan as the elf bit down lightly. And then Revas was untangling himself and stepping up and away from the table. He looked deliciously rumpled and out of breath, his ears blazing a bright red. “How was _that_ for recompense?” he asked, grinning smugly at Dorian’s dazed expression.

“It was satisfactory, I suppose,” Dorian replied as nonchalantly as he could as he straightened his own robes and willed his heart rate to slow. He aimed for a casual tone, though by Revas’ smirk and cocked brow, he fell miserably short. 

“Mhm. Well your moustache tickles, but it wasn’t terrible for a shemlen. In fact, I believe that was the most pleasant punishment I’ve ever been dealt,” Revas said, laughing as he smoothed his hand through his hair. 

“Was it, now? I take it you’ve received many punishments for this kind of behavior?”

Revas laughed again, more rueful this time. “You could say that. My Keeper often lamented the fact that I was going to be the one that the clan eventually looked to for guidance. And now the entire Inquisition looks to me for the same. Funny how these sort of things happen.”

Hoping to rekindle the moment before the elf retreated too far into his dark thoughts, Dorian took a deep breath and dove straight in before he could think better of it. “Revas, if you’re still interested in comparing spells…I would like to invite you to my room for a discussion. Perhaps a… _demonstration_ could even be arranged,” he suggested, feeling his bravado leave him as the elf pinned him with a predatory gleam in his silver gaze. 

“It would be my pleasure, Dorian.”


End file.
